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Mental illness is a huge problem, with globally more than 300 million suffering from depression alone. Yet so many of us choose to believe it is all a sham.
In the world today, mental illnesses are reaching record high figures, yet we lack the common understanding of considering mental illness a disability. As a matter of fact, it is a leading disability, battled by people all around the globe, on a daily basis and yet, it is made fun of and discredited in terms of ‘not being a real illness’ in our country.
What each one of us needs to know are a few facts and figures, in order to set our minds straight.
More than 300 million people suffer from clinical depression and 260 million suffer from anxiety, globally. While, 42 million suffer from both. 90% of suicides committed in the world are by those who had an underlying mental illness. Are these figures enough or should we continue in order to make our point?
To make matters worse, people surrounding the ones battling depression, a lot of times just add the cherry on top of the cake. How you ask? By saying the most demeaning and ridiculous things one could say to someone fighting mental illness.
The thumb rule is, if you aren’t supportive of it, at least don’t be disrespectful towards it. The worst thing you can do is to disregard a person’s serious condition, illness, or whatever you choose to call it.
Below are a few of the worst things ever said to people with mental illnesses that I have curated from Twitter and other social media sources. I would not like to name them, as they would like to keep these confessions anonymous.
So, what is the deal with us and our society? I think the ones dealing with these insecurities aren’t the ones who are broken but those of us who don’t understand their condition and pass judgemental remarks are. Wouldn’t you advise a friend or a family member to see a doctor if they had a heart condition or a fracture? Or would you still say “it’s all in your head!”, “Snap out of it!”, “Be optimistic and think more about happy stuff!”, would you?
It’s high time, we realize that mental illness is no joke, there are people dying of it each day, everyday. It’s a serious business. It’s a serious illness that needs professional help and medicines and counselling.
All We ask for you to is be open to the idea of mental illness, if there’s someone around you, who looks dull or sad, talk to them. If anyone you know is battling with anxiety or depression or any other form of mental illness, help them in getting counselling and seeking professional help, or just BE THERE. You owe it to the planet you live with the people you live among!
What are your thoughts on mental illness?
Image source: shutterstock
A Marketer by the day and a Writer by the night. Books, music, beaches, and french fries make her happy. A hardcore feminist and a hopeless romantic, trying to maneuver her way through the 21st read more...
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He said that he needed sometime to himself. I waited for him as any other woman would have done, and I gave him his space, I didn't want to be the clingy one.
Trigger Warning: This deals with mental trauma and depression, and may be triggering for survivors.
I am someone who believes in honesty and trust, I trust people easily and I think most of the times this habit of mine turns into bane.
This is a story of how a matrimonial website service turned into a nightmare for me, already traumatized by the two relationships I’ve had. It’s a story for every woman who lives her life on the principles of honesty and trust.
And when she enters the bedroom, she sees her husband's towel lying on the bed, his underwear thrown about in their bathroom. She rolls her eyes, sighs and picks it up to put in the laundry bag.
Vasudha, age 28 – is an excellent dancer, writer, podcaster and a mandala artist. She is talented young woman, a go getter and wouldn’t bat an eyelid if she had to try anything new. She would go head on with it. Everyone knew Vasudha as this cheerful and pretty young lady.
Except when marriage changed everything she knew. Since she was always outdoors, whether for office or for travelling for her dance shows, Vasudha didn’t know how to cook well.
Going by her in-laws definition of cooking – she had to know how to cook any dishes they mentioned. Till then Vasudha didn’t know that learning to cook was similar to getting an educational qualification. As soon as she entered the household after her engagement, nobody was interested what she excelled at, everybody wanted to know – what dishes she knew how to cook.